Allie-Ann's new shoes

We had to officially buy Allie-Ann some walking shoes (the real deal). We went to Stride Rite to get them and they are adorable. She loves her shoes and watches intently as mommy puts them on her. She is growing so fast, I can see a difference in her each week. She can now stand up on her own without support and is walking ALL the time. She hasn't crawled in weeks. Her hair is getting longer and I can't wait till she is over a year old to cut it (Old Wives tale-can't cut before they are 1, it's bad luck). I'm planning Allie-Ann's 1st birthday and have the cake ordered. It's just two more weeks until she turns 1. Here are some pictures of her shoes and playing at the park.

Playing in the park tunnel
My new shoes
Yeah, I'm a big girl
Banging old pots and pans
First day look after coming home from Mrs. Wandas, yeah, I think she played just a little too hard..

Allie-Ann's First Day with Mrs. Wanda

I'm making this quick because I would much rather spend quality time with Allie-Ann right now but I had to publish this picture. This is a picture of her this morning before taking her to Mrs. Wanda's. All I have to say about the first day was mommy was a wreck, Allie-Ann was great, and thank goodness for Mrs. Wanda's cooking that made Allie-Ann not even know mommy was gone. She had a really good day and Wanda is wonderful, she had sausage, biscuits, and grapes for them for breakfast. Yes, she cooks for the kids and makes fresh meals for them. It's awesome, and she had turkey and cheese for lunch. Allie-Ann is soon going to realize that being at Wanda's is much better than mommy's cooking and she just might want to stay there.

11 months and last day of summer!!

Allie-Ann turned 11 months today, it's just so hard to believe and it has gone by so fast. She is doing wonderful and I love each day discovering her witty sense of humor, laughs hard when I tickle her or chase her around the house and her sweet spirit, even though she might be turning into more of a little diva with her demands of food. She is walking around everywhere and loves it! We are so proud of her, she especially likes to chase after our dogs. She is learning how to stack blocks, and she can do all of her pop up toys now (She knows how to work the buttons). Her sleeping has settled down, thank goodness, no more crying at naps or bedtime for now. She still has her two little teeth at the bottom but no where else. She loves to wrestle and climb on top of you and crawl through all the chairs in the house. Needless to say, our living room is bare now, nothing on the tables or counter tops. She squeals a lot and is still saying dada and somewhat of a mama. Tomorrow will be a hard day for me. I need some prayers, she will be going to Mrs. Wanda's, I've already packed her bag and labeled everything but I just hated it all the while. I put a sunhat and sunscreen in her bag but thought, is Mrs. Wanda even going to put this on her, like I do everyday to protect her from the sun. Ahhhhhh, am I being overprotective already. For our last day together, Kyle and I took her to the zoo. It was HOT but she enjoyed it, especially the penguins this time. I tried to take some pictures of her at 11 months but it's very hard now. She tends to turn away every time I get the camera out, maybe I've taken too many pictures of her. So, this is the best I could do.



Thought this was a pretty neat picture, knowing that you rarely see a Koala awake
I love this picture, you can see her reflection, this was at the penguin exhibit, daddy took the picture
Walking around, yes she is barefoot, but she wouldn't have it any other way.
This is how I feel today...grumpy about going back to work.

My big girl!!!

Calling on all Moms

I'm feeling pretty down knowing that I will have to go back to work next week and that Allie-Ann will be going to a home daycare. Those who have to work, how do you do it and those who don't work, how can I do it? I know that the lady who will keep Allie-Ann is going to be awesome and the other children (I have met) are great but I can't deny the feeling that I'm the one who is suppose to raise my child. It's a tough thing and I'm dreading every bit of it, but I know that Allie-Ann will make great friends with the other children, there are two twin girls that she will get to play with, it's just hard on mommy right now. So I had to vent a little, at least with my job I will have Christmas breaks, spring break and summer, that is what's helping me right now.

Summer Beach Trip

It was awesome, the weather was great and we actually got some r&r surprisingly with an almost 11 month old. Allie-Ann is becoming more independent in the water and with play if you can call it being independent. She knew how to work her float this time in the kiddy pool, and loved every minute of getting around on her own. She also loves the waves and having daddy hold her while jumping the waves was too cool. She walked a lot on the beach, which surprised us both by her wanting to get around on foot. She played in the sand, and mud, which she thought was delicious, after I had to get it out of her mouth. She thinks everything needs to go in the mouth now that she is eating real foods. We went out to the Kiawah fresh fields concert Friday night to listen to some music and enjoy the crowds. It was wonderful, up until the point where it started raining but we did get to spend some time out there and listen to some good music. So, we are back home and ready for another vacation. Allie-Ann just smiled and smiled when we got home, she went straight for the stairs, I think she knows her home now.

Lots of pictures below: You don't have to look at them all, I'm posting a lot of these for my scrapbook.


At the Kiawah concert, just hanging out























We survived our summer beach vacation at Kiawah.